Father-Son Team Resurrects a Strange, Forgotten Concept Car

Rob Ida, left, and his father, Bob Ida, right, pose for a portrait in front of the Tucker Torpedo they're building from scratch at their shop in Morganville, NJ on February 5th, 2015. Joe Ida, Bob's father, was a Tucker dealer for one day in the 1940s before the company went bust. Now the father and son duo are completing a car that was never produced outside of a 1/4-scale model.

The body of the Tucker Torpedo that Rob Ida is building with his father at the shop in Morganville, NJ on February 5th, 2015.

The steering mechanism for the Tucker Torpedo that Rob Ida is building with his father at the shop in Morganville, NJ on February 5th, 2015.

A detail of the body of the Tucker Torpedo that Rob Ida is building with his father at the shop in Morganville, NJ on February 5th, 2015.

A magazine article about the Tucker Torpedo is displayed at Ida Concepts in Morganville, NJ on February 5th, 2015. The Idas are building a Tucker Torpedo from scratch.

Bob Ida works on a custom-made brake for the Tucker Torpedo that he's building with his son at their shop in Morganville, NJ on February 5th, 2015.

The body of the Tucker Torpedo that Rob Ida is building with his father at their shop in Morganville, NJ on February 5th, 2015.

A CNC lathe where Bob Ida is fabricating a custom brake for the Tucker Torpedo he's building with his son at their shop in Morganville, NJ on February 5th, 2015.

Scraps sit in a CNC lathe where Bob Ida is fabricating a custom brake for the Tucker Torpedo he's building with his son at their shop in Morganville, NJ on February 5th, 2015.

Rob Ida bends sheet metal for the body of the Tucker Torpedo he is building with his father at their shop in Morganville, NJ on February 5th, 2015.

A detail of the body of the Tucker Torpedo that Rob Ida is building with his father at the shop in Morganville, NJ on February 5th, 2015.

A press photo of the Tucker Torpedo at Ida Concepts in Morganville, NJ on February 5th, 2015.

The body of the Tucker Torpedo that Rob Ida is building with his father at the shop in Morganville, NJ on February 5th, 2015.

A 3D model of the Tucker Torpedo that Rob Ida and his father are building at their shop in Morganville, NJ on February 5th, 2015.

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When car designer Preston Tucker first imagined the Torpedo, back in the 1940s, it seemed to belong in some fanciful future: butterfly-style doors, fuel injection, an airplane-like engine, and pivoting headlights that turn to light the curved road ahead. Alas, this Jetsons-meets-Gattaca-meets-aluminum-skinned road shark never got built. But Bob and Rob Ida are about to change that.

Sean Tucker, the great-grandson of Preston Tucker, sits for a portrait at Ida Concepts in Morganville, NJ on February 5th, 2015. Tucker is helping the Idas to design some of the components of the Tucker Torpedo.

Bryan Derballa

The father-son custom-auto team re-creates historical rides for films, and normally they have plenty of source material. But for the Torpedo, the concept car that inspired the iconic Tucker 48 and still inspires automakers, they had nothing but a few 60-year-old sketches—and a 1/4-scale plaster model unearthed in a tobacco barn. So they 3-D-scanned the model, using the data to CNC-machine a wooden frame. Then they hand-hammered an aluminum exterior to fit over the shape.

That's the easy bit. The hard part is staying true to Tucker's design when the vintage sketches clash with what's practical. Like swiveling front fenders. And keeping the whole design under 2,400 pounds. And having to climb over the passengers in back to get to the single, center-mounted driver's seat. The Idas have solved that problem, at least, by bolting the three seats onto a rotating disc: Open the door, hop in back, and hit a button to spin forward. Now they just have to argue over who gets to drive.